Drivers and passengers assume a certain degree of risk of injury or property damage when travelling by vehicle. This risk may be mitigated by reducing or eliminating certain contributing factors. For example, a driver may avoid risky behavior, such as driving while intoxicated, driving while tired, or driving while texting. As another example, a driver may mitigate the risk of serious injury by driving a car with safety features such as airbags, seatbelts, and antilock brakes.
However, certain risk factors may not be mitigated. For example, the very nature of a vehicle may present certain inherent risks. A typical car may weigh thousands of pounds and may not always maneuver or stop quickly. When travelling at even a moderate speed, a collision may result in serious damage to the vehicle and serious injury to the occupants. Further, a driver may have no control over perhaps the greatest risk factor involved with driving: other drivers. Furthermore, a vehicle, particularly an unattended vehicle, may at any time be at risk of theft and/or vandalism.
These risks are particularly present in the case of parking lots. In addition to the collision risks faced by a vehicle entering or existing a parking lot, a vehicle within a parking lot may continue to be at risk of collision as a result of insufficient turning radii along circulating roads and parking aisles, constrained or minimally-sized parking spaces available for each vehicle, that result in close proximity to other vehicles, and visual obstruction caused by structural columns and features, landscaping or other parked vehicles. Further, a vehicle within a parking lot, by its very nature, is known to likely be unattended, placing the vehicle at a potentially increased risk of theft and/or vandalism.
Vehicle collisions and theft may result in significant damages to, or even total losses of, vehicles. Vehicle collision and theft may require extensive resources to rectify, such as monies and time. The vehicle damage may negatively impact those involved, and may be time consuming and lead to annoyance or inconvenience. Vehicle collisions and theft may also suffer from other drawbacks, such as requiring public resources to facilitate a response, such as police and medical personal. The present embodiments may overcome these and/or other deficiencies.